Hoping to export a drought-resistant wheat variety, the world’s first GMO wheat, Argentina has devised a road map with other major world wheat producers and with Brazil, the largest buyer of Argentine grain.
The agreement has just been finalized and moves Argentina closer to approving and planting the new wheat. The seed variety contains the HB4 gene that makes the crop resistant to drought and saline soils, discovered by Raquel Chan, from Universidad del Litoral.
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The GMO wheat has existed for several years, but the Secretary of Agribusiness, Luis Miguel Etchevehere, refused to approve it fearing trade disruptions, since many countries refuse to import transgenic crops. Etchevehere’s position was shared by exporters and millers.
….Minister Dante Sica and Secretary of Science and Technology, Lino Barañao, are fervent defenders of the technology. President Macri intervened and urged them to find a common position. [February 13] a meeting was held in the offices of the Center of Cereal Exporters where a road map was developed to introduce the new wheat without disrupting international trade.
Read full, original article: Argentina takes a key step to approve the world’s first transgenic wheat
